Help! Velo bolts are spinning; locknuts won't come off.

[Erin]

Help, I thought that instead of relying on the locktight to keep the seat from squeaking, I'd try putting some lock nuts on. Bad idea!
To be really cool, and cause I couldn't find some nuts thin enough to put on the seat base side of the seat post, I put some washers there. I thought I'd see if this would help to stop the squeaking.
Well now I'm really in a jam.
I got two of the lock nuts off - I never could get any of them all the way on as the bolts just started spinning so badly. And now I can not get the last two off. It is just too narrow a spot to get a hold of the spinning bolt with needle nose pliers.
I would like to take the seat down to Home Depot to see if I could get thin enough nuts there to place on the seat base side like Sofa first suggested when he had this spinning bolt problem. (Sofa where did you find the nuts that worked to help deal with this problem?)

I CAN'T GET THE LAST TWO LOCK NUTS OFF!!! HELP!

Any ideas about what I can do?

thanks for listening to my trauma.

Erin

[spickydoo]

I don't know about getting them off but I just did the same thing. Although I put some nuts under the seatpost. They're not thin ones but I embedded them into the seat a little. I hope that I can get the locknuts off. In your case I'd try using a dremmel tool and cutting slots into the top of the bolt for a flat screwdriver. If you dont have access to a dremmel (or similar tool) try a hacksaw blade. That should work although you would have to use a small screwdriver. It may just be enough grab to get those pesky locknuts. I really dont think it would have mattered whether you used locktite or the locknuts, they would both have ended up with spinning bolts. Good luck with that while I go and make sure I can get mine off too.

[Sofa]

Hey Erin, too bad about them bolts! I didn't seek out any extra thing nuts, I just wrote that the thinner the better. The ones I used are typical thickness for nuts of that size.

I brought the velo to the store and just found nuts that fit them

Good luck.

And Spickydoo...don't bust that seat this week!

[spickydoo]

no worries about that I'm just gonna leave it be

[yoopers]

Originally posted by spickydoo
I don't know about getting them off but I just did the same thing. Although I put some nuts under the seatpost. They're not thin ones but I embedded them into the seat a little. I hope that I can get the locknuts off. In your case I'd try using a dremmel tool and cutting slots into the top of the bolt for a flat screwdriver. If you dont have access to a dremmel (or similar tool) try a hacksaw blade. That should work although you would have to use a small screwdriver. It may just be enough grab to get those pesky locknuts. I really dont think it would have mattered whether you used locktite or the locknuts, they would both have ended up with spinning bolts. Good luck with that while I go and make sure I can get mine off too.

Here's a gallery with pictures of this operation on a Miyata seat. May help.

http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/Mi...-cover-removal

Bruce

[Erin]

Originally posted by spickydoo
In your case I'd try using a dremmel tool and cutting slots into the top of the bolt for a flat screwdriver. If you dont have access to a dremmel (or similar tool) try a hacksaw blade.

So if I don't have a dremmel tool or a hacksaw.... and am not quite sure if I should buy these tools for this one job.... humm, maybe, depends on the cost, I guess....

otherwise, do you think maybe I should hand over my evening's unsucessful project to my LBS to have a go? (You wouldn't believe how long I have spent this evening sitting on the kitchen floor trying to pinch that bolt in the needle nose pliers so that I can get the somewhat stubborn, and I dare say tighter than most, nuts off the bolt.)

Who would have thought this was an aspect of unicycling that just comes with the territory.? I love to ride but I don't really enjoy trying my hand at these type of repair problems.

I think the creating a slot for the screwdriver is probably my only option but I'm not sure I am the gal for the job. (Then again, I do have two more Velo seats waiting in the rear... yikes, that is a sobering thought!) Bike shop..... where else might I go for help with this?

thanks

Erin

[slugbath]

Erin,

If it is any help, I have a hacksaw, and I may have access to a dremel tool.

(I am sending this to you here in case you are frantically checking the newsgroup for inspiration while ignoring your email)

[john_childs]

Originally posted by Erin
To be really cool, and cause I couldn't find some nuts thin enough to put on the seat base side of the seat post, I put some washers there. I thought I'd see if this would help to stop the squeaking.

The skinny nuts are known as jam nuts. I'll attache a GIF taken from this page on fastener design
<http://www.tcnj.edu/~rgraham/barrett/manual1-A.html>

A shop that specializes in fasteners will have jam nuts in various sizes. These types of shops generally cater to businesses but some do sell to the general public. You should be able to find them in the yellow pages under something like "Bolts & Nuts" "Fasteners" or "Hardware - retail". Fastener shops are good for lots of unicycle related things like set screws for pedals, various fasteners for the seat, and various other parts.

[carjug]

Oh crap, you gotta mess! Take the seat, seatpost and all, to the LBS and pay the price, or take it to an OLD FASHIONED hardware store and ask the nice man behind the counter for a Dremell tool. If you are lucky he will try to sell you some other stuff as well. He will give you advice. Buy the stuff and take the advice. You are becoming a mechanic.

[harper]

I had two friends in Lawrence, KS who started a quickly failed Volkswagen repair shop named, "We'll Get Your Nuts Off." If you bring the saddle with you when you come in June, the Seattle Unicycle Mechanics Squad will help you get your nuts off. We have everything imaginable to do it.

[yoopers]

Originally posted by harper
I had two friends in Lawrence, KS who started a quickly failed Volkswagen repair shop named, "We'll Get Your Nuts Off." If you bring the saddle with you when you come in June, the Seattle Unicycle Mechanics Squad will help you get your nuts off. We have everything imaginable to do it.

That pretty much S.U.M.S. it up.

B

[phil]

Originally posted by yoopers
That pretty much S.U.M.S. it up.

Argh! I demand a written apology for posting that truly horrendous joke!

Phil

[yoopers]

Originally posted by phil

Argh! I demand a written apology for posting that truly horrendous joke!

Phil

sorry (eyes well up with tears and runs and hides)

[spickydoo]

A hacksaw blade is mere pennies.(well maybe a dollar or so) But if someone has a hacksaw or dremmel thats the way to go
It doesnt even compromise the integrity of the bolt. Unless the person doing the work is really sloppy
good luck

[phil]

Originally posted by spickydoo
A hacksaw blade is mere pennies.(well maybe a dollar or so) But if someone has a hacksaw or dremmel thats the way to go

I hope it's easier than the dreaded Miyata Bumpers. I hacksawed a groove in those... because they're at the front of the seat you can only use a couple of centimetres of the saw blade, so it took forever!

I really, *really* hope I never have to do anything like that again. I think I'd go and buy a dremel just for that, regardless of price...

Phil